


Fighting Fire with Fire

by mythicait



Series: Rowaelin Oneshots [1]
Category: Throne of Glass Series - Sarah J. Maas
Genre: F/M, Fluff and Angst, Love Confessions, Smut, Street Fights, Tumblr Prompt
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-27
Updated: 2019-08-27
Packaged: 2020-09-27 21:04:21
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,026
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20414287
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mythicait/pseuds/mythicait
Summary: Prompt: SOME KINDA ROWAELIN SHIT WHERE AELIN KEEPS COMING HOME FROM FIGHTS N SHIT AND HER AND ROWAN ARE JUST FRIENDS OR ROOMMATES IDC AND HES SICK OF THAT SHIT THAT NOX SHIT INSPIRED ME AND I'M THIRSTY REFRESH METhis fic is a gift for skeletonwrites and was inspired by my Rowan x Nox fic, Cut Lips & Fingertips.





	Fighting Fire with Fire

**Author's Note:**

  * For [skeletonwrites](https://archiveofourown.org/users/skeletonwrites/gifts).

Time slowed and Aelin swung. 

The man in front of her fell, blood pouring from his nose as the crowd roared. Raising her hand in a homage to and mockery of an official fight, the ref declared her the winner and her victorious grin took in the surging mass of people in the dimly lit room. 

Her penultimate fight of the night, done and over almost before it began. She hoped her final opponent put up a bit more of a challenge. Turning to grab her water and wipe the sweat off of her brow, Aelin caught a flash of silver in the crowd. 

Silver wasn’t a common hair color and Aelin scanned the crowd, searching for the one person she least wanted to see right now. If Rowan had followed her here… well, let’s just say her roommate and best friend wasn’t exactly happy with her right now. He would be entirely willing to throw her over his shoulder and haul her out kicking and screaming. 

After a few moments, she was convinced it was just her overactive imagination. Adjusting the fingerless gloves she wore, Aelin turned to face her last guest of the night.

And came face to face with the man she had been avoiding. 

Tall and breathtakingly handsome, Rowan Whitethorn had silver hair, piercing green eyes, and a stark black tattoo that swirled down the side of his face to cover the left side of his body. And right now, he was glaring daggers at her as he pulled on his own gloves. 

Aelin took in a shaky breath, schooling her features into a mask. She tilted her head and let a cruel, familiar smile spread. “I didn’t realize you were angry enough to want to hurt me, buzzard.” 

“It’s been a while since we’ve sparred. I wouldn’t want you to get rusty.” The anger in his voice was palpable but Aelin wasn’t going to give in like a good little girl. She’d never been good. 

The two squared off and circled around each other when the bell rang. Jeering, the crowd egged them on, but Aelin refused to make the mistake of striking first against someone who could actually beat her. Finally, Rowan struck, quick as a snake but she spun away and jabbed back. They traded light blows until sweat dripped down her forehead. 

“Slowing down, Aelin? I expected better from you, since you’ve been sneaking out every night to come here.” He punctuated the last comment with a sharp blow to her stomach, driving the air out of her lungs. On pure instinct, Aelin grabbed his arm and twisted it behind his back.

In a move she couldn’t quite follow, Rowan slid from her grip. Capturing her wrists he used the move she had been attempting and twisted both behind her back. 

She could feel his breath on her neck and she struggled against his grip, firm but not painful. “Yield, Aelin, and come home.”

The breath she released was almost a sob and her body went limp as the fight went out of her. Rowan held her for a second more until she called out her surrender. He released her arms and dragged his hands over them, lightly massaging her muscles and ignoring the disgruntled crowd that dispersed around them. 

“Ready?”

“Yeah, fine, let’s go home.”

She didn’t speak during the car ride and he didn’t push her. Aelin trailed him to their door and waited with her arms wrapped around herself as he unlocked it and let her inside. With a light hand on her shoulder, he had her sit down at the counter before he grabbed an ice pack and some water. 

Sitting beside her, he pressed the cloth-wrapped ice to her jaw, red from a punch she hadn’t blocked in one of her early fights. His voice was low and hurt when he finally broke the silence.

“Fireheart, can you please talk to me?”

She didn’t speak but her eyes grew soft, the blue vibrant as tears filled them. Lifting her hand, she covered his with her own but her jaw tightened and he knew she wasn’t going to answer. 

“Fine. I’ll talk. I’m worried about you, Aelin. You always get a bit wild around the anniversary, but this is more than that.” Still she didn’t speak and frustrated anger welled up inside Rowan. This damned stubborn woman was going to be the death of him. If he couldn’t get her to talk, maybe he could get her to yell. “Do you want to go back to Arobynn, is that it?” 

Fire brought out the gold in her eyes and he counted it a small victory. 

“Fuck you, Rowan. You know I wouldn’t go back to him.” 

“Then why the hell are doing this? Why go back to fighting when you were out of it for so long?”

Aelin jerked away from him and threw the ice pack across the room, uncaring as it exploded against the wall. “Because it’s the only time I don’t feel like I’m falling apart!” 

Silence answered her outburst while she stood there staring at him, breath heavy with the cries she wouldn’t let escape. She refused to give him another answer but his patience outweighed hers and it wasn’t long before excuses spilled out of her.

“Everything is crumbling around me, Ro. I always think it’s going to be easier, every year that passes. But it still hurts. My parents, Sam, they’re gone and I’m still here and it still _hurts so much._ Fighting is the only thing that makes me feel like I have any control over these feelings inside of me.”

“No.” His voice was low and firm.

“What do you mean, _‘no’?”_

“That’s not what this is. I know you and this isn’t how you handle grief, this is how you shut down. This is what you do when you’re avoiding something, something you don’t think you deserve.” Rowan stood and strode to Aelin until he towered over her, letting his hands rest on her shoulders until looked up at him. “Now tell me what’s going on.”

Aelin stared at him for a long time and when she spoke, her voice was a whisper, broken and pained. “You deserve better than me, Rowan.” 

His hands slid to her neck and he cradled her face in his palms. “I think that’s my choice, fireheart.” 

“You deserve better. I am broken and I fight when I shouldn’t and I run. You deserve someone who will love you the way I can’t, someone-”

“Who pushes me to be better? Who makes me want to spend every moment making her happy? Who burns in my veins with every breath I take?” Rowan pressed his forehead against hers, smiling softly as he wiped away the tears that spilled from her eyes. “That’s you, Aelin. It has been and is and always will be you. I don’t give a fuck if you think you deserve me. You have me, for as long as I live.”

Aelin threw her arms around his neck and they were kissing before he could draw another breath. Her lips tasted of salt and light and he moaned as he drew her close. She devoured him, licking into his mouth until they consumed one another.

Wrapping her legs around him, she let Rowan carry her until he pressed her against the wall. She whimpered when his lips left hers to burn a trail down her neck, licking and marking her so she knew that she was his and he was hers. 

After countless, heated minutes, Rowan rested his head on her shoulder. “Aelin, we should-”

Arching against him, Aelin threaded her fingers through his hair and brought her lips to his ear. “I love you, Rowan. Please, I love you and I need you, right now.” 

Rowan smothered her in kisses as he carried her to his bedroom. Setting her down on the edge of the bed gently, he drew back to look at her. Impatient, Aelin pulled her shirt over her head and ripped her sports bra off after. That made him laugh softly, but he gazed at her like she was the most beautiful thing in the world. When he reached out, he traced his fingertips softly over her skin, savoring the feel of her and spending more time lightly stroking the bruises that were forming. 

Aelin growled and hooked her legs around him to drag him close. She tore his shirt off and he finally gave in, kissing her until she fell back onto the bed. Trailing kisses down her body, he hovered over her. One hand tangled in the sheets and the other in his hair, Aelin cried out as Rowan took one of her nipples in his mouth.

He licked and nipped it to a peak until fire streaked to her core and she could feel herself getting wet as he made his way to her other breast. Enjoying driving her insane, Rowan took his time learning what she liked and the sounds she made.

When Rowan finally began to kiss his way down her stomach, Aelin whimpered. He tugged her sweats down her legs with her underwear and she was bare before him. Vulnerable and inexplicably shy, Aelin worried until Rowan met her eyes and the desire in them burned away any of her remaining inhibitions. 

Kneeling on the ground before her, Rowan kissed his way up her leg. He stopped before he reached where she really wanted him and repeated his torture up the inside of her other leg. Aelin gasped when he bit the inside of her thigh, whining as he sucked a mark into her skin.

Finally, he put his mouth exactly where she wanted him, licking up her slit to close his lips around the core of her desire. He slipped her knees over his shoulder and wrapped his hands around her hips before devouring her. Aelin’s cries grew louder as he dragged her to the edge over and over, begging as he kept her from falling into bliss. 

Kissing his way back up her body, he replaced his tongue with his fingers, playing her like an instrument. He pressed his lips to hers, kissing her deeply before pulling back to whisper, “I want to see you fall apart around me, fireheart.” 

Aelin whined into his mouth as he stopped touching her to drag his pants off. He pushed her further onto the bed before settling on top of her. 

Moaning as he rolled his hips into her, Rowan let his cock drag through her folds until they were both gasping with need. He twined his fingers with hers, pressing her into the bed as he pushed into her in one long, slow stroke. He stilled once he was inside of her, kissing her softly as she arched underneath him. 

“I love you, fireheart.” 

Aelin drew him close and kissed him back with all of the fire she had in her. “Show me.” And Rowan drew back and slammed into her, setting a rough pace that had her writhing below him and crying out his name. He swallowed her moans and slipped one hand between them to toy with her clit, never slowing his rhythm as he felt her spasm around him. 

When she began to shake, Rowan bit her shoulder where it met her neck. Aelin screamed and shattered around him, pulling him over the edge with her and he came deep inside of her. 

They stayed that way, entwined in each other’s arms, for several long minutes. Rowan licked and kissed the mark he had bitten into her skin and Aelin traced patterns on his back. Reluctantly, he slid off of her to stand by the bed before swinging her up into his arms. Aelin buried her head into his neck, kissing him as he made his way to the bathroom. 

It was a long while later that Aelin caught her breath enough to say the words that had been in her heart for longer than she cared to admit. “You have me, too, Rowan. For as long as you’ll have me.”

“So forever, then?”

“Forever.”

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you reading, giving kudos, and especially if you comment since it fuels my brain! 
> 
> Come see me on tumblr @myfeyrelady, where I generally post faster and will write reqs!


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